Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

I like winter and colder weather for a few reasons. I enjoy wearing my slippers around the house and cuddling up with a blanket on my couch. I love the feeling of extra blankets on bed when I'm falling asleep at night. The being cold right before you get into a nice warm shower is just wonderful. Snow covered trees and bushes are breathtakingly beautiful.

But some of those reasons are also why I don't like the cold weather. Like being comfy and cozy on the couch doesn't make me motivated to wash dishes (actually not much makes me motivated to wash dishes). And the warmth of my bed in the morning does nothing for getting me up and going early in the day. My showers take longer because why would I want to leave the hot water? And snow has a tendency to turn to an ugly grey color that is not quite as admirable.

Ah well, winter is something you deal with (the good, the bad and the ugly) when you live in the Midwest. In the words of Master Stark "winter is coming" and we gotta drag out our boots, coats, hats, mittens and scarves.

If you want to warm up your house a little bit without turning the heat up, I would suggest some baking. I've got grand plans of cookies, bars, candies and the such this holiday season so stay tuned for recipes. And feel free to send me your address and then maybe you'll get a goody bag in the mail (because we all know I shouldn't eat all the treats I make). 

To start off holiday baking season, I'm sharing with you some pumpkin butterscotch cookies that I made for Thanksgiving. Since our Thanksgiving festivities were smaller in number of people this year, we decided to make only one pie-- apple, which is definitely my favorite. My mom wanted something pumpkin-y and she really enjoyed my last pumpkin cookie, so I figured we should give these a whirl. I had made them before (like back in the day before Pinterest and this blog) so I knew they would be good. They are a nice soft cookie that is bursting with flavor. The dominate flavor is definitely the butterscotch but your mouth is left with pumpkin and cinnamon goodness at the end. I would recommend them for any holiday cookie platter!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies (adapted from Annie's Eats)
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 canola oil
1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or storebought)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon) in a bowl.

In a larger bowl, gently beat the eggs with a whisk. Whisk in the sugar until light in color, about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the oil, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Gently mix the in butterscotch chips.

Drop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Allow to cool slightly on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes 36-40 cookies of about 2-2.5 inch diameter.